New Delhi: Sitting on a cot next to a shoe stand in a Valmiki temple, Munna Lal discusses his campaign with a handful of supporters, but he is unlike other candidates whose faces are splashed on newspapers or TV channels. Neither do loudspeakers blare his political slogans in Chandni Chowk, from where he is contesting as an independent, nor are there garlands around his neck. In fact, his only semblance to a political leader is the starch-white kurta-pyjama he wears, an attire that is widely seen as trademark of netas in India.
But then he is not a cut from the same cloth, he claims. “This is the first time I am standing for any election. My aim here is to raise the pressing issues of Valmiki community. “It is a shame that we continue to remain oppressed even after 70 years of Independence. I stood for this election to give a message that Valmiki community can fight its own fight and that parties can no more exploit us for their political
